


Like Real People Do

by sarumane



Category: The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
Genre: First Kiss, M/M, Mutual Pining, Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-27
Updated: 2019-11-27
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:14:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21585952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarumane/pseuds/sarumane
Summary: Ravio has an aversion of talking about himself and so, Link waits.
Relationships: Link/Ravio (Legend of Zelda)
Comments: 17
Kudos: 201





	Like Real People Do

Ravio never talks about himself. 

But, to be fair, neither does Link. The only difference is that if asked, Link would answer instead of deflecting and distracting. Ravio, ever so artful in the manner, successfully evades all questions about his life before he had moved in with Link. 

"It's nothing terribly interesting, I can tell you that." 

Link often keeps others at arm's length. It's an easy thing for him to do since he's been living alone and only talks to the blacksmith and his family at most. Now that he has a roommate, he finds that he gets along with him quite well. He can't imagine if he accidentally drove away Ravio with his insistence. The unpleasant thought doesn't stop him from wondering though. 

  
  
He learns more about Ravio one night when he put away the dishes. It's a careless mistake on Link's end, one that Ravio would never let him forget. Ravio jumps at the clattering and he warns Link to put them away gently. Just as he tells Ravio that it's fine, his elbow carelessly bumps into a cup and it shatters on the floor. He catches Ravio flinching before yelping.

Without thinking, he bends down to clean the mess with his bare hands, picking at the pieces scattered about. Unsurprisingly, he feels a prick on his hand and a thin line of red spreads. Link hisses and pulls his hand back. 

"It's not that deep," Link tries to assure Ravio. 

It doesn't work though because Ravio makes his way towards him without much notice. Ravio is worried. It shows in his voice because the hood covering Ravio's face gets in the way of Link's staring. The swordsman is guided towards the bed and the merchant holds his hand gently as he scolds him. Link squeezes his hand and more blood oozes through. Ravio squirms in Link's messy hold, muttering 'gross'. Despite this, Ravio doesn't pull away. 

"As I was saying, be more careful," Ravio tells him. 

Link's eyes catch Ravio digging through a first aid kit with his free hand and Link sits up straight. 

"The cut's not even that bad so you shouldn't waste bandages on it." 

The eyes on Ravio's hood bore into him. Link hears a sigh and Ravio shakes his head. 

"At least let me do this much. It's all I'm asking," Ravio's voice is soft. "It's not enough for you to waltz out of here with my wares, thinking that you'll be okay." 

Link's not sure if Ravio is talking to himself or not. He wants to ask. He stays silent in the end and lets Ravio bandage his hand. When he pulls away, Link's hand feels colder. 

"What, no kiss to make it better?" Link asks jokingly. 

Ravio lightly sputters and shoves at Link’s arm. He moves away from the bed and brushes his hands off on his robe. 

"Don't you have an actual broom around here?" 

Link hums. "No, I don't think so." 

"That's stupid." 

Ravio does his best to clean up without using his hands too much. It's less cleaning and more like shoving the mess to the side. Still, Link gets up and tries to help only to be pushed back. 

"Just let me, alright?" 

There's no room for arguing and so Link sits on the bed, feeling useless as he watched Ravio. To keep himself busy, Link goes about putting out the fire. By the time he's made his way towards the fireplace, Ravio comes back and settles on the floor. 

"What are you doing?" 

"Going to sleep," Ravio says as if he couldn't be any clearer. 

"Have you been sleeping on the floor this entire time?" 

Ravio shifts uncomfortably from his spot at the question. He looks up when he hears rummaging. Link is struggling with the wooden frame of the bed and Ravio jumps up to help him. As they move together, Link huffs. 

"You could've just slept in my bed. I wouldn't have mind." 

"But I do." 

Link stops and Ravio turns his head and opens his mouth to speak. He doesn't get a single word in when Link asks, "What's that supposed to mean?" 

Ravio sighs,"I've already taken your house, I'm not taking your bed." 

Link lifts the bed and Ravio mirrors him, shuffling his feet when Link does. 

"Well, you live here now, so what's mine is yours." 

"That's nice, but sometimes I think that I've overstayed my welcome." 

Mindful of their feet, they place the bed down onto the floor. Link goes back to the corner to get the mattress and after another trip with a pillow in hand, he smacks Ravio with it. 

"Yeah, but do you really want to leave? Where would you go?" 

"No, not really." Ravio takes the pillow, holding it close to his chest as he looks away from him. "I'm tired of walking." 

As Link fixes the bed, Ravio grabs the blanket with his other hand. 

"You're more than welcome to stay here, then." 

The blanket flutters in the air before settling onto the bed. Link gets underneath the sheets and he sees Ravio standing at his side. Wordlessly, he scoots over and holds the blanket up. Still, Ravio stares on. At least, Link thinks he is. If not, then the merchant must've fallen asleep standing. 

"I can't imagine sleeping on the floor being good for you," he jokes, half expecting a snore out of Ravio. 

To his surprise, Ravio speaks up. "It's okay?" 

Link nods and Ravio inches closer, climbing onto the bed. It creaks with the added weight. Suddenly, it becomes clear to Link that someone will be sleeping next to him. He feels warm when he thinks that he's fine with it. Link turns around, his back facing the wall. 

"Good night, Ravio." 

"...Good night, Link." 

When he wakes, Link finds himself facing Ravio. He also finds that he's much closer against the merchant than he ever thought he would be. He wants to fling the blanket off. There's a snore next to him. A relief, Link thinks. Calming down, Link sets his head back onto the pillow and stares at the rabbit hood. He tries to imagine a face and what expressions it would make. He's in the middle of thinking of how Ravio's eyes would look like when Ravio speaks. 

"Is everything alright?" 

Link shoots up from the bed, straight as a board with his face flushed. 

"How long have you been awake?"

"I'm not sure," Ravio teases as he follows Link. He can hear the smile in Ravio's voice. 

"Let's have breakfast," Link laughs, climbing out of bed. "I'm really hungry." 

"You weren't hungry when you were staring at me?" 

Link walks faster towards the cabinet and Ravio chuckles when he sees Link's ears turn red. Aside from the clattering of silverware, they eat in silence. When they finish eating, Ravio takes the dishes out from Link's hands. Carefully, Ravio reminds Link after he's done washing and drying them. Somehow, the blue eyes on Ravio's hood managed to look pleased when Link turns around to show his hands to Ravio.

"See?" 

"Very good," Ravio pats his arm. "Are you going out? Do you have everything you need for today?" 

Link nods and Ravio watches him leave. 

The days pass on and Link comes home more often, usually after a day's worth of adventuring gone wrong. He tells Ravio, who listens with rapt attention, about his day and what happened. The merchant cringes and tells Link that he can purchase his items after patching him up. On one particular night, by Ravio's orders, Link is told to stay for the night. 

"I'm not even injured," Link tells Ravio, gesturing to himself in front of the bed. "Unless, you were lonely without me?" 

"Not really," Ravio says as he holds the blanket up for him. "I figured you might like to take a break." 

Sliding beside him, Link smiled. "That's sweet. But I heard somewhere that rabbits can die from loneliness so I guess I'll stay." 

"I'm not lonely. I've got Sheerow." 

"That's a lie." He's still not sure how the white bird knows when to pick up his rented items whenever he faints, so he tells Ravio his reasoning. "Sheerow's always out there waiting for me to kick the bucket." 

Ravio stays silent.

"It's okay, I don't mind staying." 

And it turns out to be a good thing that Link decided to stay for the night. Later, in the dark, he wakes to hear sniffling. He places a hand on Ravio's arm only to pull back when Ravio flinched away at his touch. 

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Ravio tells him. 

"Bad dream?" 

"It's nothing," Ravio hisses. 

Afraid to push any further, Link sits and listens to Ravio cry. 

"I can't go back. Not now, not ever," Ravio whispers bitterly and brings his hands up to cover his face from under his hood. His voice is muffled and Link has to strain his ears to catch all the words. "I don't know what to do. It's not enough anymore." 

Gingerly, Link touches Ravio's shoulder. As he expected, Ravio jumps. But he doesn't pull away. If anything, he leans forward. Swallowing, Link slowly guides Ravio towards him. Ravio lets himself be pulled into a hug and he stutters out a sigh as a hand rubbed his back. 

Link doesn't speak. He doesn't trust himself to say the right words so he hugs Ravio tighter. The longer he holds Ravio, the more he wants to say something and so, he does. 

"I think you're doing alright." 

Ravio squeezes Link in his hold, his hand bunching up the other’s shirt. 

"Thank you," Ravio tells him as he wipes his face with a hand. 

Link waves him off and with Ravio settling down on the bed, he brings the blanket up over them. His arm hovers on top of Ravio and he looks at Ravio. He nods his head and leans closer to Link, sighing. 

Breakfast, like always, is quiet. This time, however, the silence is heavy. If Ravio refuses to talk about it, then neither will Link. Together they wash the dishes and dry them. Carefully, Ravio reminds Link. This time, Link smiles. It's fleeting, however. 

"What's wrong?" Ravio asks Link. 

"I can stay here more often, if you'd like." 

Ravio dries his hands with a rag and scoffs. "Over some nightmare? Don't be silly. You've got better things to do." 

Sending water to the floor, Link shakes his hands. "It's not like I'll stay everyday. Just more often, is what I mean." 

"Link…" 

He doesn't call Link by his name often. Only this time, it sounds different from before when he had met Ravio in the beginning. He likes the way Ravio says his name, even if he's being scolded at the moment. 

"I really don't mind staying." 

Link says it so firmly that Ravio sighs tiredly. He grabs Ravio's hand. His fingers twitch against Link's skin, but he doesn't pull away. 

"Really?" 

"Really." 

But he does have to leave. The sages won't save themselves. Reluctantly, he lets go of Ravio's hand. 

"I'll be back soon," Link promises. 

He's true to his word. Link does come back, even when he hasn't been dealt with a bad hand during his travels. Lately, he's been looking forward to visiting his own house, just to talk to Ravio. He feels almost foolish at how giddy he becomes when he walks up the slope to the house. 

"Welcome back!" Ravio greets, rocking on the heels of his boots. 

With a welcome that warm, Link can't help but smile. Grabbing a chair, Ravio sits down and waits for Link to join him. 

"How was your day?" Ravio asks. 

Even when Link stays focused on a particular boring detail of his story, refusing to move on, Ravio still leans forward, listening. At least, Link thinks he is. In Ravio's company, it's easy for him to be less guarded and open up more. He only wishes that Ravio would be the same. 

"Still, I'm curious. I don't know much about you." 

"There's just not much to say." 

It's true. Ravio still refuses to tell him anything. It probably wouldn't hurt to rock the boat. 

"I'd like to hear anyway," Link gently prods. 

Ravio stares at him. The unrelenting gaze from the embroidered eyes on his hood gives almost makes Link regret pushing. 

"I ran away." 

"From?" 

"I ran away and I hate it," Ravio brings his hands to his lap, bunching up the fabric of his robe. "But, I can't go back. Sometimes, I think maybe I don't want to go back and I feel bad." 

It's obvious he won't be getting much more. Link gets up from his chair and bends down to wrap his arms around Ravio's neck. 

"It's up to you whether or not you go back," he says and feels Ravio nodding against his cheek. "But, you're always welcomed here." 

Ravio nods his head again, sniffing. 

Later that night, Link guides Ravio to the bed by the hand and they climb into bed. The merchant is unnaturally quiet as he leans forward, clutching at Link's back. Link runs his hand up and down Ravio's and he feels the other's grip on him loosen. Ravio sighs and he actually nuzzles against Link. 

"Can I ask you something?" Link sits up, taking Ravio's hand. 

"What?" Ravio softly asks him as he follows after. 

"Can we kiss?" 

Ravio squeezes Link's hand, his thumb rubbing circles. He stops to ponder with his rabbit ears flopping. Link watches them. Then, he looks back up and covers Link's eyes with his other hand. 

"No peeking." 

"Okay." 

"Are your eyes closed?" 

Link nods his head and Ravio's hand leaves him only for him to feel it trail down his cheek. Ravio cups his face and hair tickles his face. Hair. His eyes almost fly open only to remember Ravio's words. He squeezes his eyes close tighter and his fingers run through Ravio's hair. It's soft. He wonders what color it is. Finally, Link feels lips touching his and he smiles against them. 

Ravio smiles back.

**Author's Note:**

> *whips* guess who was stuck in the car listening to hozier all day


End file.
